The present invention relates to wagering games. In particular, the present invention relates to video wagering games which employ video representations of tiles having symbols disposed on a surface of the tiles.
Wagering games which employ tile sets are well known. Mah Jongg is an example of one of the more popular live tile games. Mah Jongg is the national game of China, and is sometimes referred to as the Chinese Game of the Four Winds. Although the origins of the game are uncertain, it is believed that Mah Jongg was originally played by the ruling class in China and dates back to the time of Confucius. As with many other games, the rules of play of Mah Jongg have changed over time. For example, in the Seventeenth Century, a version of Mah Jongg was played which utilized a set of 118 tiles. Over the years, the number and type of tiles changed until eventually there were 160 tiles in the set.
Mah Jongg in its present form has been played for about one hundred years. A set of 144 tiles has been used for the last one hundred years, and the same number of tiles is used today to play the most popular form of the game. Each set of tiles includes three categories of tiles. They are suited, honor and flower tiles. There are three types of suits; namely bamboo, numbers and dots. Each suit consists of nine tiles, each of which is assigned a numeric value. The bamboo and dot suits are assigned a value from one to nine, and the numbers suit is assigned values between 10,000 and 90,000. Although the numbers suit has a higher value, the tiles are scored as if they were assigned a value between 1 and 9.
There are four sets of each of the three suits, for a total of 108 suited tiles. Additionally, there are twenty eight honor tiles. The honor tiles include direction tiles (wind tiles) and dragon tiles. There are four each of a North Wind, South Wind, East Wind and West Wind tile. There are also four each of Green Dragon tiles, Red Dragon tiles, and White Dragon tiles. The remaining tiles in the set include eight flower tiles.
Mah Jongg is played by four players. To begin the game, one each of the North, South, East and West Wind tiles are placed face down on the table. Each player takes a seat. Each of the four seats is designated North, South, East and West. The person who sits in the East seat rolls the dice. The East player is assigned the numbers 5 and 9. The person opposite him is assigned 7 and 11. The person to the right of the East player is assigned 6 and 10, and the person opposite that player is assigned 8 and 12. The number which is randomly selected by the throw of the dice determines who will draw the first tile. The remaining tiles are drawn in order moving clockwise from the first person who drew, until each of the four tiles are picked up. The person who draws the East tile takes the chair of the person who threw the dice. Then the south, west and north players take their position around the table, rotating clockwise from the East position.
The tiles are shuffled face down, and are arranged face down in four lines, stacked two tiles high. The entire arrangement is in the shape of an outline of a large square. One of the tiles is removed from the game, and the four wind tiles which were used to determine the seating arrangement also remain out of play.
Next, the East player casts the dice to determine who will be the banker. The banker is determined in a manner similar to that of determining who the East player will be, except that it is customary to subtract one from the number rolled on the dice. For example, if a ten is rolled, East, who is assigned numbers five and nine is the banker for that game. There are sixteen games in all, except when the banker wins his own game. Then that player continues to serve as banker until another person wins. The number of times the banker must change per game is therefore sixteen times.
The method of scoring the game is complex. Although some of the scoring rules will be outlined below for illustration, this description is by no means intended to provide a comprehensive outline of the current rules of play of Mah Jongg.
The dealer distributes thirteen tiles to each player according to a complex dealing procedure which will not be described in detail herein. The East player receives fourteen tiles, and is the first to play his hand. Play begins when the East player discards his first tile.
The object of the game is to collect one pair (referred to as a xe2x80x9cpillowxe2x80x9d), plus runs of a suit and three of a kind of a suit. A run must comprise three or more tiles of one suit in numerical order. It is not necessary to have both runs and threes of a kind in a hand in order to xe2x80x9cgo out. xe2x80x9d For example, one might go out with four sets of three of a kind, plus a pair, for a total of fourteen tiles. A player must use the last tile he draws, without discarding, in order to go out. Generally, players draw and then discard in order, except when a player is permitted to pick up a discarded tile. In those instances, it is permissible to play out of order.
Certain types of runs have a higher scoring value than others. If a player draws a flower tile, it is declared, and the tile is set aside. The player then draws another replacement tile. The flower tiles change the scoring of the hand. The amount won by the player who has gone out is determined by the point values of both the winning hand and the losing hands. Points earned by or lost from the dealer count double. It typically takes at least an hour for four players to conclude a game of Mah Jongg.
The overview provided above is only intended to illustrate the complexity of the Mah Jongg game, as well as emphasize that four players are required, and that the game takes some time to play.
Mah Jongg is known as a gambling game. Point values are assigned to various tile combinations, and wagers are resolved according to the point values of each hand at the conclusion of each game.
A different game which utilizes Mah Jongg tiles is a live casino table game described in Wong U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,595. This patent describes a method of playing a tile game which includes dealing three tiles each to the players, the banker/player and to the dealer. Players take turns being the banker. One tile is then discarded. No additional tiles can be drawn. The highest ranking two tile hand wins. The banker bets an amount which will cover all of the remaining player bets. The game can be played with a thirty two tile set including three suits of tiles having a value of one to nine, two xe2x80x9csecond characterxe2x80x9d tiles, and three xe2x80x9cthird characterxe2x80x9d tiles. The character tiles have no numerical value, but are part of the hand. Character tiles have a point value when the hand is scored.
It would be desirable to provide a game with some of the familiar aspects of Mah Jongg but with simplified rules so that the game could be learned in a matter of minutes. It would also be desirable to offer a video wagering game available for play in a casino environment, to add fun and excitement to the game. An electronic video game would advantageously score hands, and eliminate the need for shuffling and handling tiles, which slows the play of the game.
The present invention is a novel method of playing a wagering game. A number equal to 3X+2 tiles are dealt to a player, where X is an integer. A set of tiles are provided having at least one set of suited tiles and at least one non-numerical tile. Each suited tile bears an indication of suit and a numerical value. The numerical values of each tile in the suit are numbered in sequence.
The player begins play by placing a wager. The player is dealt the tiles. He may optionally select a tile to be discarded, which is replaced with another tile. This procedure is repeated until the number of tiles replaced reaches a maximum allowable number of tiles or until the player elects not to make any additional discards and draws. At any time during play of the game, if a player is dealt a non-numerical tile, the tile is set aside and replaced with another tile. Certain combinations of tiles are designated in advance to be winning combinations. If the player""s hand is one of these winning arrangements of tiles, the player is paid a predetermined amount.